The Waterstraut Waterspout: Weekend in New Orleans!

So, there might be a few pictures in this blog. And, I probably should have split it into two blogs. I apologize, especially if you have slow internet.

Anyway, you might remember in one of my last blogs, I talked about how the boys and I were headed off to New Orleans, but without Asa. Well, on Friday I started looking at the weather and big storms were predicted for the Gulf Coast on Wednesday. I already hated the thought of driving all that way and back by myself (hurry up and get your license already, Calib!), but when I saw the weather I thought we'd have to head back on Tuesday. And if we were heading back on Tuesday, then Asa could come along. Granted, we were losing a day, but it seemed like the best plan. Sorry to Erin who's plans for a Disney trip got messed up last minute, and thanks to Justin for watching our puppies once again, on such short notice.

So, why exactly were we going to New Orleans for the weekend? Well, my mom was there, in one of her fancy shamancy hotel rooms. You might remember last year, Peyton and I got to stay with her in one of her awesome hotel rooms. She has been president of AMATYC (A national organization for math in two year colleges), and her term is coming to an end. So, this will be her last conference as president. With her room, and New Orleans a little under 10 hours away, we thought it'd be worth the weekend trip.

We got up Sunday really early and headed out. We stopped for a late lunch in Mississippi at this place called the Shed. It's right off i-10, and it's really a shed. But it was so cool. It was like half tent, half porch, half junk heap, but it totally works. And the food did not disappoint.

Peyton got BBQ chicken, which he enjoyed (though he told me it wasn't as good as the stuff we had in Nashville last year on our trip-- everything was about "last year" for him- since it had been exactly one year since we went adventuring).

Hayden went with a hot dog.

Calib and I both got pulled pork, and it was probably the best pulled pork I've ever had. (And I've had a lot of pulled pork in my day.) Asa had a sausage sandwich and said he would have eaten another one.

After lunch we continued on our way...

...and over Lake Pontchartrain.

The boys travel pretty well, but as soon as we purchase a house and get settled in, a new (much bigger) car is on tap.

When we got to our room we had a nice little package from the Sheraton in New Orleans.

Ok, so this room.... it wasn't as awesome as the Tennessee room (there wasn't a treadmill off the bathroom, your own ice maker, fireplace, or full sized fridge).. but it was pretty great. When we got there mom was having a meeting in her room, but we could go into a different door. Attached to the big suite was an option to have just a normal hotel room that adjoined. So, here was our normal room.

with comfy beds!

But when she was done with the meeting we got to see the rest of the suite. You don't have to go out into the hallway to get from one to the other, but we both had our own doors. Pretty cool.

She was in the Jefferson Suite.

First, you have the entrance area.

That doorway Hayden is in belongs to the half bathroom (there was 2.5- more than my house!)

Behind Asa is the doorway off to the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom.

To the left is the bedroom..

And straight ahead is the MASSIVE bathroom. With STEPS up to the shower and bathtub.

Of course the toilet needs it's own room. And what exactly you do with three sinks in one bathroom, I'm not sure.

You know it's a fancy bathroom when your towels have their own glass cabinet.

To the right of the entrance, you have the living/dining/kitchen area. (Less kitchen, more counter, but still!)

And there was a big TV, which was perfect for football watching. (Which worked out great since we were there on a Sunday and Monday- two nights of football!)

There's also a little desk area off of the living room.

Hayden enjoyed sitting at the desk, you can tell by the handprints that were all over it after about 30 seconds of him sitting there.

One of the coolest things about the room though was the view, we were on the 49th floor, and you could open the shutters and have floor to ceiling windows.

After checking out the room, mom offered to take us out to dinner. We ended up picking a place about two blocks down from the hotel, called Huck Finns.

And Asa ordered this New Orleans drink, that just sounded awful.

I'll let the pictures do the talking. But, I would never order this again ever. Blah.

Mom didn't mind it as much.

But for real, for a girl who only likes fruity- I can't taste any alcohol in this- type of drinks, this was not the one to try.

Mom just had a little time, but the food came really quick, and our waiter was awesome. I really, really wanted to dislike the people in New Orleans, given my experiences with them at Bucs games. But you guys, they were all so friendly, helpful, and nice. And nobody ever mentioned anything to us, even when Asa was sporting his Tampa Bay "Sunday" outfit all over town.

Hayden got a grilled cheese. (So much for the sophisticated pallet he had on the cruise).

Asa had some cajun burger and some gumbo.

Calib got a jambalaya wrap.

Peyton ordered fried alligator!

Mom got a shrimp quesadilla..

And I got a shrimp po boy.

We did all try the alligator though (some of us with ketchup). It was interesting. A little more chewy than chicken, and the taste wasn't bad. But, I must admit I was a little weirded out by the fact I was eating gator.

After dinner, mom still had a little time so we walked down Decatur Street and went in a few shops.

But mostly we were heading down to Cafe Du Monde for dessert.

So, we all know, I've been to all 50 states, and really I had the lower 48 by the time I was in 6th grade, so a lot of it I really don't remember. But, my last three states (of those lower 48) were Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. So, I sort of remembered being here. It was fun because I could picture the place, but none of the surrounding area. This trip kind of filled it in for me.

Of course we ordered beignets. They're way better here than they are at Disney, by the way.

We might have had a powdered sugar explosion.

And then we walked back, past Jackson square..

...and to our hotel.

..Up to the 49th floor...

Where there might have been some rollie chair shenanigans. My mom might be president of a National Organization, but between her big fancy pants meetings, she's rolling the boys around in rollie chairs.

While she had our meeting we headed down to the Club level lounge.

They had all kinds of food, we but we full, so we just got some tea and coffee and headed back up. But, the club lounge was great, and we had use of it while we were there. Gotta love free food and drinks!

We hung out in our room (and enjoyed the view).

While Calib waited in grandma's room, and ended up falling asleep.

When she was all done, we got to watch the game on the big TV. Somewhere, I had a picture of me and Peyton with our feet up at the hotel in TN, watching TV, so I wanted to take another one here.

Peyton also decided he wanted to take a bath. (Something I haven't seen him do in years, but he did it both nights we were there!)

And Asa ran down to the bar to get some drinks.

I think he was glad he came along.

..even if he had to get up early on his day off. (Calib doesn't do so well with getting up early).

We sent Hayden to bed, and he was asleep in record time.

Calib and Peyton, meanwhile, pulled out the couch.

I like how I have pictures of Calib sleeping through the morning in all kinds of various places. (Also, does anyone else see how much of a bed hog Peyton's being?)

The morning view out the windows..

Oh, and you could see the Superdome. That totally counts as a picture of me with a stadium right?

Hayden, Asa and I had breakfast in the Club Lounge.

And then we were off to walk around the French Quarter.

Jackson square...

And then we walked over to the cathedral.

It's a pretty impressive place, even for the non-religious folks like us. This lovely man told us all about the history of New Orleans..

...and took us down the row of flags letting us know what they all met (they're all related to New Orleans at one point or another). You have the first U.S. flag, with the 15 stars and 15 stripes, followed by the flag of "West Florida" (because Thomas Jefferson didn't know exactly what he had bought with the Louisiana Purchase and there was some debate over who actually owned the area), followed by the state flag of Louisiana with a pelican piercing herself to feed her babies with her blood, to the Louisiana flag when they first succeeded from the Union, but before they joined the Confederacy, and then you have the Confederate flag (the stars and bars, not the controversial one). Then on the other side (not pictured) you have the U.S. flag.

Oh, and there's fossils in the floor. Really, the guy was great and told us lots of fun information.

Then we were off to walk through the shops. Peyton and Asa were ALL about the hot sauce shops.

Calib accidentally ate some sauce that was a little too spicy.

I had all these plans of places we could go (a lot of places are closed on Mondays, and that was the only full day we were there), but the boys just wanted to wander and walk, so that's what we did.

A lot of stores had "no pictures" signs, but some of them didn't mind.

I got a magnet at the Cafe Du Monde store..

...and the boys got a bag of saltwater taffy.

But mostly there was just lots of hot sauce sampling.

And there was some crazy stuff. (We didn't get any of that. It seems a little much.)

There was also A LOT of Saints stuff. But, I tried not to complain, we were in THEIR city after all... and I hate when fans of other teams come to our city and are jerks.

We left a couple of pennies.

We walked back to the hotel along the Mississippi River.

That dark grey building back there was our hotel.

All the way to the left on the top floor is the Jefferson Suite.

We walked back to the hotel to get the car, because we had some errands to run, and we were all ready for lunch.

We ate a small lunch at Dat Dog.

The boys all had Shirley Temples (I had to clarify they were the same thing as Prohibition cocktails)..

Peyton was not thrilled with the cups we were drinking out of though.

We had an errand to run for mom, and we were headed to Costco (where lunch is super cheap), so we got a few things to split, and I told the boys if they were still hungry, they could get something there.

We ordered cheese fries, and a crawfish dog (maybe the best dog I've ever had)...

...and WTF (White Trash Fries.. basically fries with every topping imaginable).

Then we were off to Costco to get some things for mom. (She has to entertain people coming to the conference after all).

And holy geez! Look at the price of gas!

On the way back we stopped by the Super Dome, just in case my first picture with it didn't count.

Back up to the room with mom's list complete...

Everytime we came back from anywhere, the boys would walk over to the windows.

The view was pretty awesome.

Then we just hung out for awhile.

On our way to dinner we saw a couple of things that totally sum up my experiences with Saint's fans.

Dinner on Monday was at Oceana on Bourbon Street.

Peyton wasn't too hungry, so he just shared and got himself a rootbeer float.

Asa, Peyton and I split the Taste of New Orleans (I've discovered over the last month I really like red beans and rice)..

...and some crab cakes.

Calib had crab cake pasta...

...and Hayden got the Big chEASY burger. Which, we all thought was a great name.

Then we had the best bread pudding (seriously, this stuff even beats O'hana) ever for dessert.

We spent the evening walking around...

...we got some macaroons to bring home...

...and went through some more stores..

Then we spent the evening in the hotel room watching Monday Night Football (The Bengals were my downfall in fantasy this week, ugh!)

We also wandered down to get a few snacks from the Club Lounge..

...and some spoons for cards.

This is Peyton and Asa googling everything about hot sauce.

Mom joined us later when she was all done with her presidential duties.

The next morning we went down for breakfast (Hayden loved the elevator, you typed in the floor and then it told you which elevator was coming for you).

A little after 9 we headed out..

We thought about making a couple stops on the way home, but we ended up just making one to the Chalmette Battlefield. This is where the Battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812 took place.

It's a National Park, so the boys got to stamp their books.

I've got lots to do, so I'll just let you check out the pictures.

Then it was time for the long drive home.

The boys did get a few new states checked off their list..

..now they've all been to Mississippi.

And, Calib and Hayden can add Alabama.

We stopped in the panhandle for a late lunch, apparently Florida DOES have a Fazoli's. And holy geez, that panhandle is something. It takes about 7 hours from the line to get to our house. Yikes.